Land Trust Restrictions Get Five Year Extension
CHAR-KOOSTA
PUBLISHED BY CONFEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES, FLATHEAD AGENCY, MONT. Vol. 3 —No. 1 December, 1958
No other picture could be more appropriate of "Big Medicine" than this one. m the olden days when the Buffalo and the Indian both roamed the wide open spaces, if a white buffalo was seen by
As of today the temperature is about 45 degrees above and we on the Flathead are witnessing an extended Indian summer. When a native of our old Reservation sees these good days after the beginning of a New Year, one cannot help but think we live in a great country. Our lower valleys are without snow but our high mountain peaks shoot up in the horizon dressed in white, like angels dancing high in space. Not only do we have our mountain peaks to look forward to for our scenic value, but the tourist and other interested people also appreciate our scenic values. About six miles to the west of the Mission range at the lower end of the Mission valley, lies the National Bison Range which was created in 1903. This symbolizes the conservation of our North American Buffalo. Many years ago our native buffalo did much to preserve the culture of |)ur North American Indian way of life. Today we are facing a program of preservation of wild life that may be serious because of the lack of land in our great U- S., where our population is on the upgrade. However the politicians may have played their cards right in the
the Indian it signified a superstition. If one collected a dollar for every picture taken of "Big Medicine" in a year by tourists and local people a substantial amount of money could be collected.
olden days in order that 18,551 acres of tribal land was acquired for the National Bison Range, at a price based on a 1904 appraisal. Nevertheless, the Bison Range has made history, especially with the colorful White Buffalo, as a sight for curous people. As this White Buffalo is the only known white buffalo in America, he is known as "Big Medicine" to many people. As confirmed by a few of these buffalo herders: there but four men left—Alex Pablo, Fred Decker, John McDonald and Jim Grinder who were the rough riders who played a great part in rounding up the buffalo that ran at large on this reservation before the opening of the reservation to allotments and homesteads.
Old age has crept up on these old cowboys. Joe Allard, about 82 years young, lives in Ronan. Fred Decker has lost his baby teeth and lives in St. Ignatius. Rough treatment has caught up with Alex Pablo and John McDonald. Alex, while crossing a street in Pablo, was ac-cidently struck by a car. John McDonald was a victim of a reckless driver ?bout four years ago and received a badly broken leg while crossing a street
Trust restrictions on allotted Indian lands, scheduled to expire in calendar year 1959, have been extended for an additional five years, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced today.
The order reverses a custom, started in 1951, of limiting such extensions to a maximum of only one year. In 1951, the then Acting Secretary was considering terminating trust status on individual Indian lands on a year-by-year basis. Each trust case would be subject to review every year.
Secretary Seaton said the new order reemphasizes the Department's recently reiterated policy of taking all precautions against ending Federal supervision over Indians before they are competent to end their status as Federal wards.
Last September 18 Secretary Seaton announced his position: "No Indian Tribe or group should end its relationship with the Federal Government unless such tribe or group has clearly demonstrated, first, that it understands the plan under which such a program would go forward and, second, that the tribe or group affected concurs in and supports the plan proposed." He said it was "unthinkable to me, as your Secretary of Interior, that consideration would be given to forcing upon an Indian Tribe a so-called termination plan which did not have the understanding and acceptance of a clear majority of the members affected.
The General Allotment Act-of February 8, 1887, authorized allotments of land for individuals both on the reservations and on the public domain.
Homesteads for Indians off-reservations were also authorized by an Act of February 28, 1891.
The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act extented trust restrictions over lands of Indians who accepted the Act's provisions. Tribes and groups which were not so covered—so called "unorganized" Indians—have had their trust protection extended for varying periods, until the 1951 decision established the one-year rule.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently recommended the longer extensions. The Bureau said it did not add up the thousands of acres covered by the new order, but that the acreage was considerable.
B.H.A.
in Ronan. John, at present, is in the St. Ignatius hospital, partly the results of the accident. Jim Grinder, up in his 80's stands as straight as an arrow and resides in Missoula, Montana.
There are about 375 buffalo cows in the National Bison Range. It is remarkable when one thinks about it, that a full-blood Pend O'reille Indian by the name of Sam Walking Coyote in 1873 brought four buffalo calves to St. Ignatius from the Sun River area, on the east side of the Rocky mountains. It is from these four buffalo calves that the local herd was started. The herd from that foundation stock was later acquired by Charles Allard and Michel Pablo, subsequently by the Canadian authorities and later by the Conrad estate of Kalispell.
Bison Range Recalls Reservation History